


Who Hurt Santa (And How Do I Help Him)?

by AutisticWriter



Series: Tumblr Ask Box Drabbles [7]
Category: Yonderland (TV)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Blood and Injury, Caring, Drabble Collection, Family, Fear, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Quintuple Drabble, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, Whump, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-08-20 21:57:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20235019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: After getting beaten by the Evil Overlords, Negatus makes it to Debbie’s house before collapsing. Hayley finds him and, recognising him as ‘Santa’, she does her best to look after him. And, when she realises how scared he is, that includes trying to hide him from Debbie.





	1. Chapter 1

What should she do?

Hayley just stands there, staring at the crumpled, bloody man at her feet, and her heart drums against her ribs.

She and Ben are home alone, Mum at the shops and Dad at work. Ben is upstairs, playing on his PS4. So she is alone. Alone to cope with this situation.

Santa, the very same Santa she bumped into on Christmas morning, lies on the floor of the kitchen cupboard, his legs stuck in some sort of blue swirly hole. He shudders for breath, his clothes torn and dirty, and blood all over his face.

How can she possibly help him? But she can’t turn him away.

“Santa?” she whispers, crouching down.

He stares at her, eyelids droopy and fear written across his bloody face. “Please… help…”

And Hayley’s eyes fill with tears, scared but determined to help him.

* * *

Negatus slumps on a bed, a small child sat beside him. She trembles as she dabs at his sore face with a tissue, and he recognises her from somewhere. Of course; it’s one of Debbie’s children! So he made it through the portal in the nick of time.

He doesn’t remember much, but flashes of dragging himself up a flight of never-ending stairs as the child held his arm run through his mind. Is he in her bedroom now? Does Debbie even know he is here?

But… the thought of Debbie appearing sends panic shooting through him. Debbie will take him back to Yonderland… and the Overlords will attack him again. He has to stay in this world. He has to.

“Santa, it’s okay,” the child says, and he realises his breathing has become jagged. “You’re safe.”

Why does she keep calling him ‘Santa’? Oh, is it because of last year’s Thanktival shenanigans? Still, he doesn’t have the energy to correct her, so he lets it slide.

The tissue stings as it presses against the open gasp, and Negatus winces.

“Sorry, Santa.”

She covers the cut with a weird sticky dressing about the size of his thumb, and starts rummaging through the green box at her side.

“You’re really hurt. Do you need a doctor?”

“N-No,” he stammers. “Please.”

“O-Okay, Santa. I know a bit of first aid, so I’ll do my best, okay? Just… please don’t worry. The person who hurt you can’t get you here.”

Negatus hates the idea of being comforted by a child, but… he knows she is correct. He is safe here. So, despite the very phrase sounding weird in his mouth, he mumbles, “Thank you.”

* * *

When the front door bangs, she knows Mum is home. But when Hayley tells Santa, he panics, grabbing her wrist and whispering, “No!”

For whatever reason, Santa doesn’t want to see Mum. And, whilst Hayley knows she can’t keep Santa in her bedroom forever, she wants to keep him safe for as long as she can. She’ll just have to deal with Mum if she finds out.

But, for now, she wants to keep Santa safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Debbie gets home, knows something is wrong and investigates.

When Debbie gets home, it takes her about thirty seconds to realise something isn’t right. In the kitchen, the air reeks of cleaning products, and when Debbie follows the scent to the bin, she opens the lid to find copious amounts of kitchen roll in there, damp and covered in…

“Blood?” Debbie gasps, taking a step backwards. Someone must have mopped up a large amount of blood in here. But… only the twins are home. Could one of the twins be injured?

Panic gripping at her chest, Debbie hurtles up the stairs. “Ben?! Hayley?! Are you okay?”

“What’s the shouting about, Mum?” Ben says, opening his bedroom door. He still wears his gaming headphones, and looks groggy rather than pained. “Are you okay?”

“Are you hurt?” she asks, rushing over.

“Hurt? No, I’m fine. Mum?”

Debbie inhales sharply, not wanting to tell her son about the blood. “I’m okay. Sorry. Go back to your game.”

So if Ben is fine, it must be Hayley? Trying to stop her hands shaking, Debbie goes to her daughter’s room and knocks. “Hayley?”

Behind the door, she hears muffled scuffling and whispering. What is she doing in there? Without warning, Hayley opens the door just wide enough to fit through and shuts it behind her, staring at Debbie. She keeps her back pressed against the door, her face sweaty and shoulders heaving with fatigue, and there’s something about her daughter’s eyes that Debbie can’t read.

“Oh, hi Mum,” she says, smiling.

“Are you okay?” Debbie asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“I… found a lot of bloody kitchen roll in the kitchen bin. Did you cut yourself?”

For less than a second, panic flickers in Hayley’s eyes, her smile becoming forced. Seriously, what is going on?

“Um… no.”

“Then where did the blood come from?”

Hayley stares down at her feet. “I mean, yes…”

“Can you show me the cut?” Debbie asks. Her daughter is lying. But… why? Ben and Hayley are good kids, and she’s never seen either of them acting so shifty.

“I, um… itsnothingimfinesorrymum,” Hayley babbles, and she turns and attempts to squeeze back into her room.

But Debbie, sensing something important, reaches above her head, grabs the door and pushes it wide open. And then she just… stares.

On Hayley’s bed, wearing bloodstained clothes, his skin covered in bruises and plasters, is a very weak and obviously terrified Negatus. When he sees her, he flinches, before forcing himself to sit up. Panic flashes across his face, and Hayley hurries over to him.

“Oh crud, Santa, no, don’t move!” she cries. “You’re hurt.”

“M-Maddox,” he says, staring at Debbie. “I…”

“What the hell?” Debbie says. She knows Negatus isn’t as bad as he seems, but he’s still a stranger to Hayley and from another world. And why did Hayley call him Santa? “What the bloody hell are you doing here?”

“ Mum… I didn’t mean to lie…”

She looks at Hayley, and they both know she has a lot of explaining to do.


	3. Chapter 3

The young girl—Hayley—stumbles backwards, staring at Debbie. Her hands go up to her mouth, and Negatus wonders if she might start crying.

But, to be honest, all he can focus on is his terror—with Debbie here, she will send him back to Yonderland and they will beat him again and he’ll never be safe and—

His breath catches in his throat, and Negatus realises how fast his heart pounds. Hayley keeps backing away from her mother, eventually bumping into the bed and knocking her back against his arm. Negatus winces and she babbles an apology.

Debbie just stares at them, stares in disbelief and a large amount of horror. “Hayley… please…” She speaks with a shaky voice, obviously trying hard to stay calm for her daughter’s sake. “Tell me what happened.”

Hayley turns and looks straight at him, staring at Negatus with tears in her eyes. “Santa… what should I do?”

“Santa?” Debbie says, but she doesn’t get an answer.

Negatus exhales slowly, pain flaring in his bruised ribs. The terrified part of him wants her to help him up so he can run away from Debbie… but the rational part of him knows it is too late now—Debbie has found him—so they might as well tell her the truth. Maybe, just maybe, Debbie will let him stay. So he nods, and Hayley nods back, sniffing.

“I, I went into the kitchen and this weird blue light was glowing in the cupboard and I opened it and—and Santa fell out, and he was hurt and scared and…” Hayley’s voice cracks and she starts to sob.

“Oh, darling, don’t cry,” Debbie says, darting across the room and hugging her tightly. As she rubs her daughter’s back, she stares at Negatus. “First off, Hayley, why are you calling him Santa?”

“B-Because it’s Santa. Last Christmas… I met him in the living room.”

The confusion on Debbie’s face would be funny in any other circumstances, and she fixes him with an inquisitive stare. Seeming to ignore the rather confusing explanation, Debbie says, “Okay, darling. So… he was hurt?”

“Uh-huh. Bleeding and bruised and scared… he begged me to help… so I took him here and did first aid and… Mum, he didn’t wanna see you, so I tried to keep it a secret and… I’m sorry!” she sobs, and Negatus can’t tell who she’s apologising to.

“Okay, it’s okay,” Debbie says. “Hayley… can you go downstairs for a bit? I want to talk to Ne—to Santa.”

Hayley pulls backwards, staring at her. “B-But…”

For the first time, Negatus speaks. “It’s okay…”

And only then does Hayley agree to what Debbie suggested.

Still sniffling, the girl walks out of the room. When the door shuts, Debbie stares down at him. Negatus expects to be yelled at, but Debbie sits down beside him and studies his body with horrified eyes.

“Negatus, what the hell happened to you?” she cries, and Negatus swallows.

How does he respond to that?

**Author's Note:**

> If you want me to write you a short fic, drop in a prompt at my [personal prompt meme](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/AutisticWriters_Personal_Prompt_Meme)!
> 
> [My tumblr](https://anautisticwriter.tumblr.com/).


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